Consumers can interact with a merchant's payment reader to transact electronic payments in a variety of ways, for example, a payment card having a magnetic strip that is swiped in a magnetic reader of the payment reader, a payment device having a Europay/MasterCard/Visa (EMV) chip that is inserted into a corresponding EMV slot of the payment reader, and near field communication (NFC) enabled devices such as a smart phone or EMV card that is tapped at the payment reader and that transmits payment information over a secure wireless connection. The payment reader may receive payment information as well as information about a payment transaction from the payment device, and may communicate such payment information to a payment system for processing and/or authorization of the transaction. Payment readers capable of facilitating such transactions may take a variety of forms, including a standalone mobile device.
Mobile payment readers have existed on the market for several years. However, as functionalities related to payment processing increase in variety and complexity, that is, as a consumer's options for payment grow, the processing requirements for a payment reader may outgrow the capabilities of the existing hardware that is already in the market. In some cases, the hardware of an early (or earlier)-generation payment reader that is in use by merchants may be unable to meet the processing demands of more modern payment transactions. In other cases, payment readers that are in use by merchants may be unable to process modern payment transactions because the readers lack sufficient power resources, or are not updated with the required software. In still other cases, payment readers that are in use by merchants may be physically capable of processing a payment transaction but may, due to environmental or security conditions, be unable or unwilling to do so at the particular time or under the particular circumstances requested by a consumer.
Therefore, solutions are generally desired that more optimally utilize processing and/or power resources on a payment reader, prevent processing by obsolete, less efficient, or undesired software versions, and otherwise enhance data security during payment processing.